Publication Date
Second - eighth century AH / eighth - fourteenth century AD
Publication Place
-
National Museum of Oman
Subject
silver
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
القطر : 1,8 سم ، الوزن: 1غرام
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
2014,4540
Record ID
object;EPM;on;Mus21;9;ar
Library Location
National Museum of Oman
Date
Second - eighth century AH / eighth - fourteenth century AD
Notes
These coins are engraved with the Shahada which reads (There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God). In the centuries before Islam, 200 BC - 651 AD, many rulers, ruling families and authorities issued coins that were circulated in Oman and the Arabian Gulf. Coins made in Oman in the period 133-906 AH / 751-1500 AD showed means of expressing authority, status, and independence. The local rulers issued their own currency starting in 174 AH / 791 AD. The followers of the Ibadis (an Islamic sect) established imams (unique systems of government based on the election of a person known for his knowledge and piety) in Oman in the year 132 AH/749 AD. The Ibadi imams issued their own silver coins. Many of these coins were found in areas explored in 1422 AH/2002 AD in the state of Bahla. The coins bear the name of the mint factory “Oman” and the names of the Ibadi rulers “Al-Khalil ibn Shazan” and “Rashid ibn Said”. The Wajahis are a local ruling dynasty led by Yusuf ibn Wajih, a former ruler of Al-Bu Said, who ruled Oman and who controlled the northern coastal areas of Oman during the 4th century AH / 10th century AD. They established the city of Sohar into a major center of international trade and produced their own currency. The coins issued by the Wajihis Similar to the one shown here, it maintained the standard Abbasid inscription with the name of the local ruler added below the inscription on the reverse. Many Islamic dynasties continued to issue coins in and around the Arabian Peninsula, with Yemen and Hormuz coins being common in the Oman Peninsula from 493 AH/1100 AD. After 493 AH/1100 AD, Ayyubid gold coins from Yemen and dinars Fatimid ships from Egypt were regularly used in the ports of Oman. Trade in the south of the Arabian Peninsula was concentrated in the Yemeni port of Aden, and from there, many Ayyubid dinars found their way to Oman. Meanwhile, the kings of Hormuz (in what is today Oman and Iran) competed for trade along the coast of Iran. Small gold and silver Hermuz coins became the most important currency in Oman during this period.
Sample Text
“A coin engraved with the Shahada inscription” within Discover Islamic Art Collections. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;on;Mus21;9;ar
